Machine for making sheet-metal rivets



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

No. 565,855. Pa tented Aug. 11, 1896.

All,

7 (No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet a. H. H. CUMMINGS. MACHINE FOR MAKING SHEET METAL RIVETS. N0. 565,855.

Patented Aug. 11, 1896.

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(No Model.)

H. H. CUMMINGS. MACHINE FOR MAKING SHEET METAL RIVETS.

No. 565,855. Patented Aug. 11, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SHEET-METAL RIVETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,855, dated August11, 1896.

Application filed November 4, 1895. Serial No. 567,821- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY I-I. CUMMINGS, of Malden, county of Middlesex,State of Massachusctts, have invented an Improvement in Machines forMaking Sheet-Metal Rivets, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the pro duction of a machine formaking sheet-metal rivets having concavo-convex heads and upturnedfastening prongs or legs, the rivethead being swaged to thin itcentrally, and thereby crowd the metal to its periphery to form astrengthening-rib or enlargement between the bases of the legs orprongs.

A sheet-1netal strip of suitable thickness and width is fedintermittingly to a reciprocating punch, which, cooperating with a die,punches out the blanks from which the rivets are formed. Mechanism isprovided for bending the ends of the blank to form the legs and swagethe head to complete the rivet. The blanks are punched from the strip insuch manner as to leave the smallest possible amount of scrap or waste,and for convenience in handling I have provided a cutter which seversthe strip of waste as it. leaves the machine.

Figure 1- is a front elevation of a rivet'machine embodying myinvention, showing the die-carrier and plunger lowered. Fig. 2 is aleft-hand side elevation of the machine, showing a portion of theblank-strip reel or support. Fig. 3 is an enlarged top or plan view ofthe machine, the base-plate and main shaft being broken off to savespace. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the upper partof the machine, taken on the line a: m, Fig. 1, looking toward the left,the die-carrier shaft being shown in elevation. Fig. 5 is a top or planView of the rotatable die-carrier Fig. 6 is a similar view of thefeed-rolls and their support. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a portion of thewaste-strip, showing the manner in which the blanks are punchedtherefrom; and Fig. 8 in side elevation shows, enlarged, a completedrivet.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the base A has erected thereon an openstandard A, provided with bearings A for a main shaft 13, having looselymounted thereon a belt-pulley B, connected by a belt (not shown) with asuitable clutch or unclutch the pulley and shaft.

source of power. A clutch C, of any suitable construction and forming nopart of this invention, is controlled by a hand-lever O,Ato

n eccentric B fast on the said shaft between the bearings A issurrounded by a strap B forming part of a pitman B, pivoted at its upperend at B to a plunger D, vertically reciprocable, by rotation of themain shaft, in guideways D" (see-Fig. l) in the head A of the standardA, one of the guideways being preferably made adjustable by set-screws 5to take up wear. A cross-head A is rigidly secured by suitable bolts 6to the top of the head A to form a long bearing or support for avertical shaft a, extended completely therethrough and having itsreduced end a inserted in a socket cl in the plunger, as shown in Fig.4. A pin A loosely extended through the cross-head A is maintained by aspring 8 yieldingly against the shaft a. to act as a friction-detenttherefor, retarding the longitudinal movement of the shaft for a purposeto be described.

' The upper end of the head D is cut away at d to receive therein acircular die-carrier E, (shown separately in Fig. 5,) secured as by apin 7 to the shaft a, to be rotated thereby, said die-carrier having aseries of tubular dies 6 therein, the upper face of the die-carrierbeing depressed above each die at e to correspond with the shape of andform seats for the rivet-blanks. Adieplate e bolted to the plunger D,projects partly over the diecarrier E, and has an opening therein of theshape of the blank, a stripper a having a similarly-shaped opening,being secured to the upper side of the die-plate, as shown in Fig. 5, sothat when one of the dies 6 is under the die-plate opening the passageofa blank-punch, to be described, through the stripper-opening will punchout a blank from the metal strip and place it in the depression or seat6 of the die-carrier E beneath.

I have secured in the cross-head A and depending therefrom a blank-punchp, to cooperate with the die-plate 6 when the plunger is raised, shapedin cross-section as shown in section, Fig. 5, the shank of saidblankpunch being adjusted by a backing-screw in the cross-head and heldin adjusted position by a set-screw 9. Aformerp, also similarly adjustedby a backing-screw in the cross-lfead and projecting a greater distancebelow it, is

held securely adj usted by a setscrew 10, said former being groovedlongitudinally on opposite sides at 19 The length of the former p issuch that when the plungerD is raised the former will enter one of thedies 6 in the die-carrier E and closely approach the slightly-concavedupper end of an adjustable and removable swaging-die p screwed into theplunger and extending up to the cut-away portion (1 thereof.

Supposing a blank to be resting in its seat 6 beneath the former p whenthe plunger D- is raised, the said former will act upon the centralportion of the blank, forcing it down into the die 6 and against theswaging-die p to swage the rivet-head r, Fig. 8, and give it aconcavo-convex form, crowding the metal out to the periphery at 1',while the eX- tended points of the blank will be bent up to enter thegrooves 19 in the former p, as the latter forces the blank through thedie 6 to form the legs or prongs r of the staple, convexed on theirouter sides. The convexity of the end of the former 1) is of less radiusthan that of the concavity in the end of the swaging-die 1) ,to give theenlarged periphery to the rivet-head. Then the plunger D descends, theformer p is withdrawn and the completed rivet is left in the die and thedie-carrier E is given a partial rotation in the direction of arrow 20,Fig. 5, as will be described, to bring the die containing the rivetbeneath the clearer p held in and depending from the cross-head A and atthe next ascent of the plunger D the clearer will force the rivet outthrough the lower end of the die into a discharge groove or channel dformed in the front of the plunger, as shown in Fig. 1. The clearer 13is long enough to effectually clear the rivet from the rotatabledie-head E, the relative lengths of the punch, former, and clearer beingshown in Fig. 1, while they are arranged in an arc of a circle of whichthe shaft to is the center. A set-screw 11 retains the clearer firmly inadjusted position in the cross-head, the clearer filling the tubular die6 and engaging the points of the upturned rivet-legs r to force therivet out of the die.

From the foregoing it will be seen that at each ascent of the plunger ablank is punched from the strip and laid in the die-carrier, a formerlypunched blank is formed into a rivet, and a completed rivet is clearedor discharged from the die-carrier and delivered, each punched blankundergoing successively the forming and clearing steps.

It will be seen from Fig. 4 that the space between the bottom of thecut-away portion (V of the plunger and the die-plate e is greater thanthe thickness of the die-carrier E, so that when the plunger D descendsit will move slightly in advance of the die-carrier at the beginning,owing to the friction-detenton the shaft a, and when the plunger anddie-carrier come to rest the latter will be slightly above the bottom ofthe recess cZ the bottom of one of the dies 6 resting upon the.swaging-die p iVhen the die-carrier E is rotated, as will be described,after the plunger descends, this space affords a clearance for the headsof the formed rivets, which will extend below the lower ends of the dies6, and they will not rub over the plunger on their way to be cleared ordischarged from the die-carrier.

Referring to Fig. 3, the cross-head A has bearings A for a shaft 1),having fast thereon, preferably, a sprocket -wheel Z) and spiral gears72 and N, a sprocket-chain Z) passing over the wheel I) and around asimilar sprocket-wheel B on the main shaft B, whereby rotation istransmitted to the shaft 7), a guidesheave b (see Fig. 2,) adjustable onthe standard A, taking up undue slack in the chain. A stud b on the topof the cross-head A has mounted loosely thereon a spiral gear b in meshwith the gear b on shaft Z), to be rotated thereby, the gear b restingon a'collar b and secured to or forming part of said gear is anupwardly-extended hub 6 (see Fig. 1,) provided with a single long pin ortooth b to engage once at each revolution the starwheel a fast on theupper end of the shaft a, forming what is commonly called the Genevastop-motion. The outer concaved faces of the teeth of the star-wheel arest against the cylindrical face of the hub Z2 when the tooth passesout of engagement with the star-wheel, holding the latter and itsshaftfrom rotative movement at such time.

Owing to the length of the hub and its tooth, the star-wheel is alwaysin operative position relative thereto, whether the shaft a is raised orlowered, and an intermittent rotation is imparted to the shaft a and itsattached die-carrier E sufficient to bring one after another of the dies6 beneath the punch, former, and clearer described, the rotativemovement being imparted as the plunger D comes to rest on itsdownstroke.

A bridge A (shown as attached to the bearings A has a vertical bearing Atherein (see Fig. 4) for the upwardly-extended hollow hub c of a spiralgear 0 in mesh with the similar gear 19 the hub 0 being retained inplace by a collar 0 secured thereto and resting on the top of bearing AThe under side of the gear 0 is shown in Fig. at as made conical at 0forming one member of a clutch, the other member 0 of which is shown asa friction-disk secured to a spindle 0 extended into the hub c andnormally pressed down by a spring 8', held at its upper end byascrew-plug 16. At its lower end the spindle is shown as coned at c torest on a series of antifriction-balls 0 held in a box 0 having athreaded shank screwed into an arm of a bell-crank lever f, pivoted at fto a bracket f (see Fig. on the head The depending arm f of the lever isprovided with a suitable roll f to be engaged by a cam-lugf", pivotallymounted on an arm f jointed at f to a stand f adj ustably secured to andprojecting from the rear side of the pitman B whereby the cam-lug f willslide up and down on the back of thehead A by movement of the pitman.When the camlug is raised simultaneously with the plunger D, the roll fpasses on to the loW portion of said lug, allowing the bell-crank leverf to. turn on its pivot, and the spring .9 depresses the spindle cdisengaging the clutch member c from its continuously-rotating member onthe gear 0, so that the spindle 0 will not rotate. A long pinion c isfast on the spindle c in continuous engagement with the teeth of a gearh, rotatably mounted on a bracket h", rigidly secured to the plunger Dand projecting through the open back of the head A said gear 71 havingan upwardly-extended hub or roll h, provided with an an- WVhen thespindle c is rotated, the clutch members 0 0 being in engagement, thefeed rolls 7?. 76 will be rotated to feed the blank strip S forward overthe top of the die-carrier E and through the stripper, but as soon asthe proper length has been fed the roll f leaves the high part of thecam f and the clutch will be disconnected, stopping rotation of thespindle c, and consequently the feed will be stopped, the nownon-rotating rolls moving up with the plunger, but the gear it willremain in mesh with the long pinion a ready to begin feeding when theparts return to position shown in Fig. 4. The thin-metal blank strip Sis conveniently wound in a coil and supported on a suitable reel R.(Shown only in Fig. 2.)

When it is desired to insert the strip between the feed-rolls or toremove it, the arm la is turned on its pivot away from the bracket h bya suitable handle 70 Fig. 6, against the action of spring 8 to separatethe feed-rolls h and 7c.

WVhen the blank -punch 19 leaves the punched-out blank, the latter isliable to stick to the punch and so displace it from its seat on thedie-carrier E, and to prevent this I have provided a separator.

The punch is made hollow, and a plungerrod 19 is extended therethroughwith its preferably-reduced lower end 19 normally projecting beyond theend of the punch, as shown in Fig. 4, by the action of a bent or otherspring 3 acting on the upper end of the plunger-rod.

One end of the spring is rigidly secured to the cross-head A and acollar 19 on the plunger-rod is adapted to be engaged and lifted attimes by a dog 19, pivoted at p on a part of the cross-head, the tail pof the dog extending in the path of a cam 12 on the shaft 5.

When the punch is about to punch a blank, the cam b lifts the dog praising the plunger-rod p and drawing its tip 19 up out of the waywithin the punch, but as soon as the die-carrier E begins to descend,the cam b permits the dog to drop, and the spring 8 pushes down the tip19 against the blank, separating it from the end of the punch, so -thatthe blank will not be removed from its seat 6 in the die-carrier.

The opening in the die-plate e is arranged diagonally to the length ofthe blank strip, so that the blanks are cut therefrom in such manner asto leave a waste strip shown at S Fig. 7, economizing material andmaking the least possible Waste while not destroying the integrity ofthe skeleton strip of waste as it passes through the machine.

A cuttingblade m is adj ustably secured by screws m to the front of thecross-head A to act in conjunction with the die-plate c at each ascentof the plunger to "out or sever the waste strip S into short portions asit leaves the machine, thus avoiding a long strip which would have to bebroken off or removed by the attendant from time to time.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction andarrangement of parts as herein shown, as it will be obvious that variousdetails of the apparatus may be rearranged or modified without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention.

While I have shown herein what is known as the Geneva stop-motionforcontrolling the intermittent rotation of the die-carrier my invention isnot restricted thereto.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for making sheet-metal rivets, thefollowinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: blank-making devices, tomake and place blanks in the seats of the die-carrier, a rotatabledie-carrier having a series of tubular dies and seats to receive theblanks, made by said devices, a former and a clearer cooperating withthe die-carrier, means to bring said former, clearer and die-carrierinto operative engagement, and means to rotate the die-carrier, step bystep, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for making sheet-metal rivets, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: blank-makin g devices, arotatabledie-carrier adjacent the said devices and having a series of tubulardies and seats, to receive the blanks as they are made, means to rotatesaid die-carrier intermittingly to receive the blanks from theblank-making devices, a former and means to cause operative engagementof the former with one blank after another on the die-carrier,substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for making sheet-metal rivets, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: blank-makin g devices, arotatabledie-carrier having a series of tubular dies and blank receiving seats,to receive the blanks as they are made, means to rotate said die carrierint-ermittingly to receive the blanks, a former, a cooperatingswagingdie, and means to force the blanks in succession into the tubulardies and swage the rivetheads between the former and swaging-die,substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus for making sheet-metalrivets, thefollowinginstrumentalities in combin'ation, viz: areciprocatingdie-carrier, a se ries of tubular dies therein, each having at its upperend a blank-seat, a die-plate reciprocable with the die-carrier, acooperating fixed blank-punch, a former to force the blanks so made insuccession into the tubular dies, and means to eject the finishedrivets, substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus for making sheet-metal rivets, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: an intermittingly-rotatablediecarrier having a series of tubular dies and nonradial blank-receivingseats, blau k-punchin g mechanism to punch the blanks from the strip anddeliver them directly to the seats in the die-carrier, a former and aclearer, to respectively form a rivet in the die-carrier and clear apreviously-finished rivet therefrom, and means to move the die-carriertoward and from the former and clearer, substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus for making sheet-metal rivets, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: a reciprocating plunger, a r0-tatable die-carrier, mounted thereon provided with tubularforming-dies,blank-seats,blankmaking devices, to make and deliver blanksto the die-carrier, a rivet-former and a swaging-die, one of which ismovable toward the other, to form a rivet in the die-carrier and swageits head, mechanism to feed a blankstrip to the blank-making devices,and connections between the plunger and feed mechanism, to actuate thelatter intermittingly, substantially as described.

'7. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: a reciprocating plunger, adie-carrier rotatably mounted therein, provided with tubularforming-dies, a swaging-die in the plunger beneath the die-carrier, afixed form er adapted to enter successively the forming dies, to formthe rivet and swage its head, and means to bring said dies into the pathof the former successively, substantially as described.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: a reciprocating die-plate, acooperating blank-punch, means to feed a blank strip between them, aseparator within the blank-punch, means to positively withdraw theseparator as the punch operates, and a spring to project the separatorthereafter beyond the end of the blank-punch, substantially asdescribed.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: a reciprocating plunger, adie-carrier rotatably mounted therein and movable axially relative tothe plunger, means to control such movement, a former cooperating withthe die-carrier, to form the rivet, a swaging-die, to swage therivet-head between it and the former, and a clearer to remove a finishedrivet from the die-carrier, substantially as described.

10. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination,viz: blank-punching mechanism,blankstrip feeding mechanism including positively-rotated feed-rolls, anactuating-spindle for said rolls, a driven clutch member on saidspindle, a continuouslyrotating drivingclutch member, and means toautomatically engage and release said clutch members, to feed the blankstrip intermittingly, substantially as described.

11. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: blank-strip-feed mechanism,comprising two peripherally-grooved rolls to receive the edges of theblank strip, a rotatable spindle geared to said rolls, a maindrivingshaft, connections including a clutch,between it and the spindle,to rotate the latter, and means controlled by said main shaft to engageand release the clutch, to thereby feed the blank strip intermittingly,substantially as described.

12. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: rivet-forming mechanism, areciprocating plunger, a blank-punch, mechanism to intermittingly feed ablank strip thereto, said mechanism comprising feed-rolls, a rotatablespindle geared thereto and having a clutch member thereon, a cooperatingcontinuously-rotating clutch member, and connections between the plungerand spindle, to move the latter longitudinally and release the clutchmembers when a blank is being punched, substantially as described.

13. In an apparatus of the class described, the followinginstrumentalities in combination, viz: rivet-forming mechanism, including a reciprocating plunger, a die-carrier, and a former, a blank-punch,blank-strip-feed rolls movable with the plunger, an actuatingspindlehaving a long gear thereon, in engagement with the feed-rolls, and meansto control rotation of said spindle by the reciprocation of saidplunger, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

- HENRY II. CUMMINGS. Witnesses:

J. COUPER EDWARDS,

AUGUSTA E. DEAN.

